Fusible cut-out for percolators



Sept. 29, 1925.

p. A. COLBY FUSIB LE CUT-OUT FOR PERCOLA'I'ORS Filed Juno 10, 1922wngsgg INVENTOR 5 r a Ca /by ATTORNEY atented Sept. 29, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ORA A. COLBY, 0F IRWIN, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC& MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

FUSIBLE CUT-OUT FOR PERCOLATORS.

Application filed June 10, 1922. Serial No. 567,447.

To all whom it may concern: 0

Be it known that I, ORA A. COLBY, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of Irwin, in the county ofWVestmoreland and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Fusible Cut-Outs for Percolators, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to electrically heated devices and particularly tocircuit controlling means for such devices and it has for one of itsobjects to provide a relatively simple, compact and ru ged fusiblecut-out for an electrically heated device.

Another object of my invention is to pro vide an easily and quicklyrenewable fusible cut-out for an electrically heated device.

Another object of my invention is to provide a fusible cut-out that hallembody means for'adapting it to various operating temperatures of theheating element.

In practising my invention, 1 provide a supporting plate which is somounted rela tively to the heating element of a percolator or otherelectrically heated appliance as to have a direct heat paththerebetween. On this supporting plate are insulatedly mounted twospaced-apart contact terminal plates, in one of which is adjustablymounted a metal thimble having an opening in its head. An elongatedmember of rivet shape extends into said thimble through the opening andhas a washer operatively secured thereon adjacent the end thereof. Aspring is located on the member of rivet shape within the thimble,between the head and the washer, to yieldingly force the head of theelongated member toward the head of the thimble, a fusible member beingplaced therebetween. The thimble is so adjusted in its terminal plateholder that the head of the member of rivet shape engages the otherterminal plate. A plurality of relatively thin washers may be interposedbetween the heating element and the supporting" plate to vary thethermal resistance of the heat path from the heating element to thefusible cut-out.

In the-single sheet of drawings,

Figure 1 is a view, in vertical section, of a percolator comprising thedevice embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of the device embodying my invention;

Fig. 3 is a view, in vertical section, of a portion of the deviceembodying my invention, and

Fig. 4 is a view, in side elevation, of a supporting plate constitutinga portion of the device embodying my invention.

A percolator 11 comprises a fluid container 12 having a spout 13, ahandle portion 14 and a hollow base portion 15. The bottom of the hollowbase 15 is provided with an opening 16 within which is removably locateda cover member 17 fitting tightly within the opening. Heat-insulat ingsupports 18 may be mounted on the bottom of the base 15.

A tubular member 19 is provided at the bottom of the container 12extending thereinto through an opening 21 in the bottom of thecontainer-and the top of the base, a nut 22 being located thereon withinthe container to securely clamp the member 19 in its proper operativeposition and to provide a watertight structure. The member 19 isprovided with an integral flange portion 23 which provides a shoulder tooperativel engage the inner surface of the top 0 the hollow base 15 andco-operate with the nut 22 to securely hold the member in position.

A plurality of heating units 24 are provided having a metal plate 25located therebetween and a removable laterally extending flange member26 is located therebelow. This construction is more particularlydisclosed and claimed in my copending application Serial No. 567,443,filed June 10, 1922, to which application reference may be had forfurther details. A heat-insulating disk 27 is located immediately belowthe bottom of the flange member 26 to reduce the amount of heat which isradiated downwardly from the heating elements and from the flange member26.

A metal supporting plate 28 com rising a central portion and twotangential extending portions 29 and 31 is locate immediately below thedisk 27, being spaced therefrom by a plurality of relatively thinsheet-metal washers 32 for a purpose to be hereinafter set forth. A flatterminal plate 33 is mounted on the bottom of the portion 29 of thesupporting plate 28 and a terminal plate 34, of substantially Z-shape,is

mounted on the bottom of the portion 31,

a sheet'of insulating material 35, such as mica, being placed betweenthe plates 33 and 34 and the supportin plate to electrically insulatethemem ers from each other. Suitable screws 36 are provided for each ofthe members 33 and 34 to Suitably clamp them against the supporting late28, an insulatin washer being placed t erebetween to suita ly insulatete screws from each of the members 33 and 34. Screws 38 are provided oneach of the plates 33 and 34 to permit of connecting the ends of theresistor Wires of the heating units 24 to the terminal plates. A nut-39is provided to clamp the plate 28, the heat-insulating disk' 27 and theparts of the heating, units as well as'the flange member 26 in theirproper operative positions-on the dependingtubular member 19.

A fusible cut-out adjustably mounted in one end portion of the member34, comprises a metal thimble 41 having an openmg 42 through its head.An elongated member 43, of substantially rivet shape, extends throughthe opening 42 and through the thimble, and a coiled spring 44surroundsthe member 43 within the thimble; A washer 45 is locatedadjacent the other end of the member 43 and may be held in place thereonby any suitable means, here shown as by 'flattening out the end of thebody portion of the member 43. The action of the spring 44 is to causethe head of the member. 43 to approach the head of the thimble, amovement which is normally prevented by a fusible member 46 which maycomprise a short member of substantially tubular section, or ofsubstantially U-section.

.The thimble 41 is provided with a knurled integral flange 47 adjacentthe outer end thereof to permit of adjusting it in the member 34,suitable co-operating screw threads being provided in the two members.

Contact terminal pins 48 are insulatedly mounted in a cageor terminalguard 49 supported by a wall of the hollow base 15 and have their innerends connected to the outer ends of the heating units 24. The circuitthroughthe resistor is interrupted at any suitable point or place, andleads 51 are brought out and connected to the terminal plates 33 and 34by means of the screws 38. This construction provides an electric,circuit from a contact pin 48 through the heating units 24 to one of theterminal plates 33, the head of the member 43 to the spring, to thethimble, and thence to the terminal plate 34 to the other of thecontact-terminal pins 48.

In case all of the water in the container 12 is evaporated, thetemperature of the entire device rises veryrapidly and a relativelylarge amount of heat is conducted down wardly through the lower endportion of the tubular member 19 to the central portion of the member 28and from there to the integral extensions, through the mica sheet 35 andto the terminal plates 33 and 34. After a predetermined temperature hasbeen maintained for a predetermined length of time, the fusible member46 softens and permits the spring 44 to move the head of the member 43out of engagement with the terminal plate 33, causing the circuit to beinterrupt ed. This reduces the temperature of the device and if it isdesired to again place the percolator in operation, a turning movementof the thimble 41 by the operator to cause the head of the member 43 toagain engage the plate 33 places the device in condition for operation,thus permitting the use of the same cut-out for several interruptions ofthe circuit. After the fusible member 46 has been compressed to such anextent, as to make the device inoperative, a new fusible member 46 mayeasily be placed in position, particularly if it is made ofsubstantially U- shape, as hereinbefore described, whereupon the deviceis again ready for use. If a tubular fusible member is employed, it maybe necessary to disassemble the cut-out and provision may be made foreasily removing the Washer 45 by an suitable means, such as a nut, screwthrea ed upon the outer end of the member 43.

As various line voltages of supply circuits are encountered, it isadvisable and practicall necessary-to provide means for permitting theuse of such a fusible cut-out upon circuits'of different voltages. Forinstance, if the device is adjusted to permit the proper percolatingaction when the device is connected to a supply circuit of volts, oreven less, and to interrupt the circuit upon the complete evaporation ofthe water in the container, it is possible that this device, with- 1 outany change made therein, will interrupt the circuit too soon if thepercolator is connected to a or 112 volt circuit. The plurality ofwashers 32 provide means for varying the thermal resistance of the heatpath from the heating units to the fusible cutout, whereby I obtain asubstantially constant temperature of the fusible cut-out even thoughthe actual temperature of the heating units may vary because of theirbeing connected to supply circuits of different and particularly highervoltages. If the percolators are to be employed on, say, supply circuitshaving an average of 105 volts, I may employ. only one Washer 32,whereas, if the percolators are to be employed on circuits of 115 volts,or higher, I may employ several metal washers and I may also change thematerial of which the washers are made, in order to still further varythe thermal resistance of the heat path.

The device embodying my invention thus provides a relatively simple,compact, renewable and easily assembled and disassembled fusible cut-outfor a percolator comprising means for varying the thermal resistance ofthe heat path thereto to permit of employing the percolators on circuitsof different voltages.

Various modifications may be made in the device embodying my inventionwithout departing from the spirit and scope thereof and I desire thatonly such limitations shall 'be placed thereon as are imposed by theprior art or are specifically set forth in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A fusible cut-out for an electrically heated device comprising athimble, an elongated member, of substantially rivet shape, in saidthimble, resilient means for moving said elongated member relatively tosaid thimble and a fusible member located between said thimble and thehead of said elongated member for permitting said relative movement onlyupon the occurrence of a predetermined temperature of said fusiblemember.

2. A fusible cut-out for an electrically heated device comprising aplurality of cooperating spaced-apart terminal members, a thimbleadjustably mounted in one of said terminal members, an elongated member,of substantially rivet-shape, in said thimble having its head normallyengaging the other terminal member, resilient means in said thimble formoving said elongated member relatively to said thimble, and a fusiblemember located between the thimble and thehead of said elongated memberfor permitting the elongated member to move away from the terminalmember normally engaged thereby only upon the occurrence of apredetermined temperature of said fusible member.

3, A fusible cut-out for an electrically heated device comprising aplurality of cooperating spaced-apart terminal members, a thimbleadjustably mounted in one of said terminal members, an elongated member,of substantially rivet-shape, in saidnthimble having its head normallyengaging the other terminal member, resilient means in said thimble formoving said elongated member relatively to said thimble, a fusiblemember located between the thimble and the head v of said elongatedmember for permitting the elongated member to move away from theterminal member normally engaged thereby only upon the occurrence of apredetermined temperature of said fusible member, and integral means onsaid thimble for permitting the same to be so adjusted manually that thehead of the elongated member again engages the co-operating' terminalmember. ,7 j

4. A fusible cut-out for an electrically heated device, comprising ametal supporting plate secured against said device, a pair ofspaced-apart terminal members insulatedly mounted on said supportingplate, a thimble mounted in one of said terminal members, an elongatedmember, of substantially rivet shape, carried bysaid thimble and havingits head normally engaging the other terminal member, resilient means insaid thimble for moving said elongated member relatively to said thimbleto disengage the head thereof from its co-operating terminal member, anda fusible member located between the head of said elongated member andsaid thimble for permitting the movement of said elongated member onlyupon the occurrence of a predetermined temperature of said fusiblemember.

5. A fusible cut-out for an electrically heated device, comprising athimble having an opening in the head thereof, an elongated member, ofsubstantially rivet shape, extending into said thimble through saidopening, a washer operatively secured to said elongated member adjacentthe end thereof, a helical spring in said thimble surrounding a portionof said elongated member and extending between the head of said thimbleand said washer and a fusible member surrounding a portion of the bodyof said elongated member and extending between the head thereof and thehead of the thimble.

6. A fusible cut-out for an electrically heated device comprising a pairof spacedapart terminal members, a thimble having an opening in the headthereof, mounted in one of said terminal members, an elongated member,of substantially rivet shape, extending into said thimble through saidopening and having its head normally operatively engaging the otherterminal member, a washer operatively secured tosaid elongated .memberadjacent the end thereof, a helical spring in said thimble extendingbetween the head thereof and the washer on said elongated member, and afusible member surrounding that portion of the body of said elongatedmember located externally of said thimble for maintaining the head ofsaid elongated member in operative engagement with its co-operatinterminal member until the occurrence of a predetermined temperature.

7. A fusible cut-out for an electrically heated device comprising a pairofv spacedapart terminal members, a thimble having an opening in thehead thereof, mounted in one of said terminal members, an elongatedmember, of substantially rivet shape, extending into said thimblethrough said opening, and having its head normally operatively engagingthe other terminal member, a washer operatively secured to saidelongated member adjacent the end thereof, a helical, spring in saidthimble extending between the head thereof and the washer on saidelongated member, a fusible member lltl surrounding that portion of thebody of said elongated member located externally of said thimble formaintainin the head of said elongated member with 1ts co-operatingterminal member until the occurrence of a predetermined temperature, andintegral means on said thimble for. adjusting the position thereofrelatively to the terminal member supporting the same.

8. A fusible cut-out for an electrically heated device comprising a pairof spacedapart terminal members, a vthiinble having an opening in theheadthereof, mounted in one of said terminal members, an elongatedmember of substantially rivet shape, extending into said thimble throughsaid opening and having its head normally operatively engaging the otherterminal member, a washer operatively secured to said elongated memberadjacent the end thereof, a helical.

spring in said thimble extending between the head thereof and the washeron said elongated member, a fusible member surrounding that portion ofthe body of said elongated member located externally of said thimble formaintaining the head of said elongated member in operative engagementwith its co-operatin terminal member until the occurrence o% apredeterminedttemperature, and integral means on said thimble forpermitting its adjustment relatively to its supporting terminal memberto cause the head of the elongated member to again engage itsco-operating terminal member after having been disengaged therefrom.

9. In a fusible cut-out for an electrically heated device, incombination, asupporting means for thermally connecting a fusiblecut-0ut to the heating element of said device, and means for varying thethermal resistance of the heat path through said supporting means. I

10. In a fusible cut-out for an electrically heated device, incombination, a supporting means for thermally connecting a fusiblecut-out to the heating element of said device, and means interposedbetween the heating element and said fusible cut-out for obtaining asubstantially constant temperature of said fusible cut-out withdifferenttemperatures of the heating element.

11. In a fusible cutout for an electrically heated device, incombination, a fusible cutout, a mounting means for said cut-outproviding a direct heat path between the heating element and thecut-out, and means for insuring the operation of said cut-out atsubstantially the same tem erature irrespective of the temperature 0'the heating element by reason of changes of voltage of-the supplycircuit.

' 12. In afusible cut-out for an electrically heated device, incombination, a fusible member, a mounting means for said cut-outproviding a direct heat path between .the heating element and thefusible member, and a plurality of washers interposed between saidmounting means and said heating element for obtaining a substantiallyconstant temperature of the fusible member with different temperaturesof the heating element.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 2nd day ofJune,

ORA A. COLBY.

